How incredibly fitting that the United States declares Jerusalem as Israel's capital shortly before The Orville airs 'Mad Idoltary.'
The Season 1 finale imagined a world with a variable rate of time - ageing hundreds of years, in what is only minutes for those observing - which made for a very intriguing and original concept.
After Kelly unintentionally interferes in the dealings of this world, still during its primitive time, we see what would happen in Star Trek if there was no prime directive. Kelly becomes a God to the people, who worship her throughout time, and all the Orville can do is watch as they witness the planet age in front of their eyes.
The episode really puts into perspective our world and how we have evolved as a culture throughout millennia. Seeing the Union officers watch the reports of killings in Kelly's name, makes one contemplate what founders of religions would think about all of the fighting amongst faiths in today's Earth.
Eventually the world evolves past to where we are on this planet and it is revealed that religion was made obsolete because of how developed the world became - a bold statement indeed and one that holds some truth to it.
It was certainly inspiring, albeit controversial, to see the female representative of this world encourage the crew of the Orville to have faith in discovery and let to their logical mind triumph.
Even if you may not agree with some of the commentary laid out in 'Mad Idoltary,' you have to admit that this episode was thought provoking, if not inspiring to those who hold true to the ideals of discovery and science.
Amidst the weighty theme of this episode, we also saw some memorable classic humour. Ed playing Mochlan hot potato and the chaos that ensued was too hilarious. The followup with Bortus volunteering to get the egg as the crew were contemplating on playing board games and Ed's reaction was a hilarious exclamation point.
The end of 'Mad Idoltaory' ended on the right note. The relationship between Ed and Kelly has been the emotional crux of this first season and so it made sense for it to end on a character centric conclusion rather than some story-based cliffhanger. Kelly deciding that a relationship between her and Ed would not be right for the functioning of the ship was indeed heartbreaking and a poignant way to leave viewers hanging for what is sure to be an amazing second season.
10/10
